The Ideas Page: AAP leaders have won a reprieve, but the system is beset with a creeping unfairness 8 TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ₹6.00 (₹12 in North East states, ₹20 in Andaman) l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , j A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A ENSURING HEALTHCARE FOR ALL IN WEST BENGAL CBC 17101/13/0054/2526 AIIMS Kalyani ensuring advanced medical care with an investment over ₹1,700 crore 800+ Jan Aushadi Kendras providing high-quality medicines at 5 50-90% discounted rates; ₹2,300 crore saved for the people till now Happening today lONE OF THE wORLD’S MOST prestigious badminton tournaments, the All England Championships, begins at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham. lA 12-DAY TRIBES ART FEST organised by FICCI and the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi opens to the public. It looks to bring together more than 75 artists and over 1,000 artworks representing more than 30 tribal art traditions across the country. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm BA GLA BIKOSHITO BHNRAT BIKOSHITO A PM MODI’S VISION ‘THIS wAS OUR LAST BEST CHANCE TO STRIkE... AND ELIMINATE THE INTOLERABLE THREATS’ Trump on Iran: Big wave soon... boots on ground, if necessary Iran ops likely to last 4-5 weeks, but prepared to go far longer than that: US President Business as Usual By EP UNNY 49 Iranian leaders killed, says President Trump. REUTERS Trevor Hunnicutt & Steve Holland Israeli security forces inspect a road damaged in an Iranian missile strike, in Jerusalem. AP MORE REPORTS, PAGES 3, 7, 10, 11 & 12 Washington, March 2 EPFOtrustees for8.25%rate, itsinvestment panelhad suggested8.1% Aanchal Magazine New Delhi, March 2 THE CENTRAL Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), headed by Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, on Monday recommended an interest rate of8.25%toitsover7.8crorecontributing subscribers for the third straight year in 2025-26. The 8.25% recommendation by the board came despite EPFO’s own investment subcommittee and the Ministry of Finance suggesting that the interest rate be cut to 8.10% for 2025-26. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The Indian Express wishes its readers A Happy Holi We are closed today. There will be no edition of the paper on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 AS THE US-Israel military conflict with Iran intensified on Monday, US President Donald Trump sharply upped the ante saying“thebigwave”iscoming soon and that he did not rule out putting American boots on the ground in Iran. Speaking at an event in the White House East Room, Trump also said thatoperationsagainstIranare likely to last four to five weeks, but he is prepared “to go far longer than that.” “Wehaven'tevenstartedhitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon,” Trump told CNN, adding that it was unclear who was now leading IranfollowingthedeathofAyatollah Ali Khamenei. “We don’t »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Israel hits Hezbollah as Gulf nations warn Iran; Turkey backs Tehran Jon Gambrell, Melanie Lidman & Samy Magdy Bahrain and Saudi struck by Iran, Modi speaks to rulers, condemns attacks Shubhajit Roy Dubai, March 2 New Delhi, March 2 l INDIANkIllEDIN THE WAR in West Asia spiraled further on Monday as Israel and the US pounded Iran, with the latter hitting back forcefully, getting its proxies involved and opening new fronts. Tehrananditsalliesstruck neighboringGulfstatesandtargets critical to the world’s energyproduction.Safehavens A DAY after he spoke to UAE President and Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Prime Minister NarendraModiheldphoneconversations Monday with the rulers of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and,withoutnamingIran,condemned the attacks on their countries and thanked them for looking after the Indian Dubai: An Indian national was killed on Monday when an explosive-laden drone boat struck an oil tanker off the coast of Muscat. The remaining crew members, including 16 Indians, were rescued. The tanker, flagged to the Republic of the Marshall Islands, was carrying around 59,463 metric tons of cargo. PTI »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Parivartan means freeing Bengal of infiltrators: Shah Workers evacuate the area after a strike on Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery. REUTERS »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Yubaraj Ghimire FLAGGING OFF theBJP’sParivartan Yatra from Mathurapur in South 24 Parganas district, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday urged the people of West Bengal to throw theTMCoutofpowerintheupcoming Assembly elections andaccusedChiefMinisterMamata Banerjee of pushing the state into a grave. “This yatra has been started to bring a change in Bengal… I wanttosaythatparivartandoes not only mean changing the CM… By parivartan, we mean ON A visit to Nepal in 2018 when she was the prime minister of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi remarked how excited she was to see several ex-PMs of the country together at a reception. “That is the beauty of democracy,” she said at a meeting the next day. However, as Nepal votes on March 5 in its first elections since the September 2025 Gen Z protests that toppled the government, its long list of living former PMs is one of the concerns haunting it. While the protests were tar- Amta (Howrah), March 2 Kathmandu, March 2 Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Mathurapur, Monday. PTI ATTAckONTANkEr Six months after Gen Z protests, half-a-dozen former PMs loom large over Nepal elections E. ExPlAINED Tanusree Bose »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pacts with Canada on uranium, critical minerals; PM says new energy in ties Second polls post Gen Z protests The Nepal protests had followed an agitation led by the youth in mid-2024 in Bangladesh, resulting in the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government. In polls held last month, the BNP came to power. geted at the existing political system, six months later, at least half-a-dozen former PMs continue to play a prominent role in their parties and the nation’s politics. The most prominent among them is five-time former PM and Nepali Congress chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba. In the September protests, the 79-year-old Deuba and his wife Arzu Rana Deuba — the then foreign minister — hadbeenattackedandseverely injured, with their house burnt to the ground. InJanuary,arebelfactionof the Nepali Congress led by GaganThapa,50,seizedcontrol of the party via a “special convention”, with Deuba’s request Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, Monday. ANIL SHARMA India-Canada CEPA by year-end, defence dialogue established Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, March 2 MOVING TO transform ties to a “next level partnership” and put behind a bitter recent past, India and Canada signed a “landmark deal for long-term uranium supply” after Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mark Carney held talks in New Delhi Monday. The two sides also signed pacts on critical minerals, decided to establish the India-Canada Defence Dialogue, and agreed to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement by the end of the year,andsetaUSD50billionbilateral trade target by 2030. In all, they signed eight government-to-governmentpacts, and 24 MoUs or partnerships among universities and institutions in areas such as AI, healthcare, agriculture, and innovation. Thisisahugeturnaroundin bilateral ties which took a severe hit after Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau, in September 2023, alleged that Indian government agents were involved in the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar — a charge India rejectedas“absurd”and“politically motivated”. Following bilateral talks »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INsIDE COURT DID NOT CONSIDER PLOT: CBI ON KEjRIwAL DISChARGE PAGE 6 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l 20-YEAR-OLD, WHOSE HOLD ON HIS NATIVE LANGUAGE HAS GIVEN WAY TO MALAYALAM, RECONNECTS WITH FAMILY BACK IN JHARKHAND’S CHAIBASA Separated from parents, ending up in Kerala — now journey home after 14 years Shaju Philip & Shubham Tigga lam. It’s little wonder, then, that Thalassery, Chaibasa, he has held on to what he remembersmostfromhisoldlife: March 2 football. “My love for football EVER SINCE he left home in beganatmyvillage,whereIused 2012 and came to Kerala, he’s tokicksomeballsattheground,” been known as “Raja, Chai- he tells TheIndianExpress. basa”.Hismemoriesofhome— Last month, the unexpected Jharkhand’s Hadi Mara village happened. Raja Gope, now 20 in Chaibasa — are and a footballer who hazy and disjointed: has played for Kerala PAGE 1 a hill, a school and a Blasters FC U-17, recycle shop. His hold connected with his on his native Ho lanfamily back in Hadi guage has given way to Malaya- Mara. The development came anchor after authorities at a Kerala care home, an NGO in Jharkhand and a YouTuber came together in a last-ditch effort to track down his family. “Normally, we try to track down families of such children before they turn 21, since they are rehabilitated then,” Muhammed Asharaf, superintendent at a government children’s home in Thalassery whohelpedRajatrackdownhis family, says. “I told Raja that if we could not find his parents, we would find a local couple Raja Gope has played for Kerala Blasters FC SHAjU PHILIP; (above) his mother and sister at their home in Chaibasa, Jharkhand. SHUBHAM TIGGA Kolkata who would take care of him underfamily-basedalternative care. I had already identified two couples and had informed Raja about it. He had also agreed.” Now reconnected with his family, Raja must make the difficultchoicebetweenstayingin hisadoptedhomelandorheading back home. “When I saw my mother over a video call, I couldn’t speak.Shehadaged,”hesaysin Malayalam — the language he speaks best. “I couldn’t under- stand her, and spoke to her in the little Hindi I knew. She asked me when I would come home but I didn’t have a clear answer. I just said I would.” Train to Kerala Raja was with his parents at a brick kiln in West Bengal when he got separated. Having just arrived there, Raja yearned to return home and began walking along railway tracks, reachedtheneareststationand boarded the first train he saw. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2